Non-invasive imaging of the retina and retinal structures of the living eye is important, especially for studying, diagnosing and monitoring diseases of the living human eye. Confocal imaging systems, including those using adaptive optics, have been employed to obtain images of various retinal structures. However, many retinal structures that are important for understanding the healthy and diseased retina are invisible using conventional confocal imaging methods. Phase imaging methods such as the one described here provide imaging of various retinal structures with better contrast than current methods and have the potential to reveal structures that are not accessible using current methods.